Are your peppers just not producing many peppers? There are a number of potential reasons why your pepper plants aren’t delivering the fruit!
If temperatures get into the upper 80s or over 90℉, peppers will drop their flowers. And if nightime temperatures dip below 50℉, growth will slow and flowers may drop.
Another cause for poor fruit set may be poor pollination. Pepper flowers have both male and female reproductive organs in the same flower. The male part of the flower releases pollen so the female part of the flower can grow fruit.
Peppers flowering
Peppers have the ability to self-pollinate. But the pollination process needs some assistance. The pollen literally needs to be shaken loose for the fruit to set!
That 'shake' could be wind, pollinators visiting the flowers or even just flying past the flowers-- their wing action can provide enough vibration to move the pollen! Bees, butterflies or the wind can make pollination happen.
So in this case inactivity will affect productivity! NO wind and NO insects means NO pollination.
The solution? There are a number of work arounds you can use!
Shake! Shake! Shake! If there isn’t enough wind, you can give your pepper plants a gentle shake to release pollen. A calm stretch of weather can result in a stretch of no fruit set!
OR you can hand-pollinate your pepper plants-- using a cotton swab to transfer pollen flower to flower. Just be careful not to break off any flowers!
Another more ‘natural’ solution to gain pollination services for your pepper plants— intersperse flowers throughout your garden and close to your pepper plants. This will congregate more bees, butterflies, and other pollinators in your garden, providing critical services.
Flowers beget more pollinator action!
Poor nutrients can mean poor fruiting
Check your soil! If it doesn’t have the right pH and nutrient balance, it could mean poor flowering and poor fruit set. Ideally, the soil pH should range between 6.0 and 6.5.
Calcium and nitrogen also need to be in balance. Gotta make sure there is enough calcium and not too much nitrogen.
Too much nitrogen will mean lots of vegetative growth but poor fruit set. A soil testing kit will help identify any issues.
If there is too much nitrogen, one simple solution may be to spray your peppers with a mixture of water and epsom salt— the magnesium will help facilitate more blooming and fruit set!
Hope these troubleshooting tips are helpful! Here's to more abundance!
Your garden coach,
Theresa